Call for Prayer According to Five Islamic Schools of Law

Adhan literally means ‘announcement’, and in the Shari’ah it means the announcement made in specific words at the time of salat. It was introduced in the first year of the Hijrah at Madinah. The cause of its introduction, in the opinion of the Imamis, was that Gabriel came down with the adhan in a message from God to the Prophet (S). The Sunnis say that ‘Abd Allah ibn Zayd saw a dream in which he was taught the adhan by someone. When he related his dream to the Prophet (S), he approved it.

The Hanafis, Shafi’is and Imamis say: Adhan is a sunnah which has been emphatically recommended (mu’akkadah).

The Hanbalis observe: It is a wajib kifa’i for non-traveling men in villages and towns to make the adhan for the five daily prayers.

The Malikis state: It is a wajib kifa’i in towns where the Friday prayer is held, and if the people of such a place abandon adhan they will be fought on that account. Adhan is invalid in Certain Cases.

The Hanbalis observe: It is not valid to make adhan for a funeral prayer (salatal-janazah) or for a supererogatory prayer (al-salat al nafilah) or for one performed to fulfill a vow (al-salat al-mandhurah).

The Malikis say: It is not valid for a supererogatory or funeral prayer or for an obligatory daily prayer performed after the lapsing of its time (al-salat al- fa’itah).

The Hanafis state: It is not valid for the prayers performed on the two celebrations (‘idayn), for the prayer performed on the occurrence of an eclipse (salat al- kusuf), for prayers made for rain (istisqa’), and for tarawth and sunnah prayers.

The Shafi’is do not consider it valid for janazah, mandhurah and nawafil prayers.

The Imamis observe: The Shari’ah has introduced adhan only for the five daily salats, and it is mustahabb for them, whether performed as ada’ or qada’, with a group (jama’ah) or singly (furada), during journey or stay, both for men and women. It is not valid for any other salat, mustahabb or wajib, and the Performer (mu’adhdhin) will just call out "al-salat”three times on occasions of salat al-kusuf and ‘Idayn.

The schools concur that the conditions for the validity of adhan are: maintaining continuity of its recital and the sequence of its different parts, and that the mu’adhdhin be a sane Muslim man. Adhan by a child of discerning age is valid. All the schools concur that Taharah is not required for adhan.

The schools differ regarding other aspects. The Hanafis and the Shafi’is say: Adhan is valid even without niyyah. The other schools require niyyah.

The Hanbalis consider making adhan in any language other than Arabic as being unconditionally valid. The Malikis, Hanafis and Shafi’is state: It is not valid for an Arab to make adhan in any other language, though it is valid for a non Arab to make it in his own tongue, for himself and his co-linguals.

The Imamis observe: Adhan is not valid before the arrival of the time of salat except in the case of salat al-fajr. The Shafi’is, Malikis,

Hanbalis and many Imamis permit the making of the adhan of announcement before the dawn. The Hanafis do not permit it, making no difference between salat al-fajr and other salats. This opinion is closer to caution.

Allahu akbar -- four times according to all the schools and twice according to the Malikis.

Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah -- twice according to all the schools.

Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah - twice according to all the schools.

(It is Mustahabb (recommended) to also say at this point: Ashhadu anna Aliyyan wali Allah - twice according Imamis only. It means I bear witness that ‘Ali is protected by Allah (from any evil))

Hayya ‘ala al-salat -- twice according to all the schools.

Hayya’ala al- falah -- twice according to all the schools.

Hayyah ‘ala khayril-’amal -- twice according to the Imamis only.

Allahu akbar twice according to all the schools.

La ilaha illallah -- once according to the four schools and twice according to the Imamis. The Malikis and Shafi’is permit repetition of the last line, considering it sunnah; that is the adhan, according to them, is not invalid if it is recited only once, as the Imamis hold.

For both men and women it is mustahabb to recite iqamah before every daily obligatory salat, with the salat immediately following it. The rules applicable to adhan, such as continuity, sequence, its being in Arabic, etc., apply to iqamah as well. Its form is as follows: Allahu akbar-- twice according to all the schools except the Hanafis who require it four times. Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah -- once according to the Shafi’is,

Malikis and Hanbalis and twice according to the Hanafis and Imamis. Ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah -- once in the opinion of the Shafi’is, Malikis and Hanbalis, and twice according to the Hanafis and Imamis. Hayya ‘ala as- salat -- once in the opinion of the Shafi’is, Malikis and Hanbalis, and twice according to the Hanafis and Imamis.

Hayya ‘ala al-falah -- once in the opinion of the Shafi’is, Malikis and Hanbalis, and twice according to the Hanafis and Imamis. Hayya’ala khayr il-’amal -- twice only according to the Imamis. Qad qamat is-salat -- twice in the opinion of all schools, except The Malikis who recite it once. Allahu akbar -- twice in the opinion of all the schools. La ilaha illallah -- once in the opinion of all the schools. A group of Imami legists observe: It is valid for a ‘traveler’ and a person in a hurry to recite each sentence of the Adhan & Iqama only once.

you would do a great deal by enlightening us about your Azzan (call for prayer)

Call for prayer that you are wondering about, is not a basic difference between Shi’a and Sunni. So even if I prove it for you that the way we call for prayer is the right one, it is not going to help you. Because the origin of differences is somewhere else, that is leadership. The details of call for prayer is not indicated in Qur’an, so we simply ask our leadership (Prophet and his 12 successors) to know how to call for prayer.

But let me ask you this Question: The detail of call for prayer is not written in Qur’an. But I am wondering why don’t you accept the things that are explicitly explained in Qur’an? One of them is the way you make Wudhu’ (Ablution). Qur’an, using WAW of ATF, clearly says that you should rub you feet, but you wash it. Am I right?

Allah, exalted did not repeat the verb for "feet", and joined "heads”and "feet”together under one verb "Rub", using Waw of Atf. This is exactly what he did for "faces”and "hands”that came under one verb "Wash". Would you please let us know kindly why don’t you accept the above verse of Holy Qur’an?

Allah, exalted did not repeat the verb for "feet", and joined "heads”and feet”together under one verb "Rub", using Waw of Atf. This is exactly what he did for "faces”and "hands”that came under one verb "Wash". waw al-’aTf requires that al-ma’Toof and al-ma’Toof ‘alaih share the same status in i’rab ie if the ma’Toof (in this case heads) has a kasra, the ma’Toof ‘alaih should also have a kasra. In this case, the ma’Toof has a kasra, but the word feet has a fatHa indicating that it is ma’Toofa ‘ala the word wujuhakum and aydiyakum.

No! Dear brother if you are Arab then you should probably know that the reason that ‘S’ in ‘ruusikum’ has Kasrah is because of the ‘B’ at the beginning of the ‘beruusikum’, and nothing else.

Moreover, when Allah uses a new verb, the old verb is already knocked out, and you can not come back to it, because this is A NEW SENTENCE. There is no possible way to use the verb of a previous sentence, when that sentence has been already finished and a new sentence is started with a new verb. I appreciate your consideration any way.

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